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J    W   N  Address  at  the  Unveiling  of 
/      \      the  Statue  of  Washington,  upon 
y  the  Spot  where  he  took  the  Oath 

as  First  President  of  the  United  States. 
Delivered  26th  November,  1883,  by 
George  William  Curtis. 


»• '       ^  •>■ 


AN  ADDRESS 


UNVEILING  OF  THE  STATUE 


WASHINGTON. 


AN    ADDRESS 


UNVEILING  OF  THE  STATUE 


WASHINGTON 


UPON  THE  SPOT  WHERE  HE  TOOK  THE  OATH  AS  FIRST 
PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Delivered  on  the  (25TH)  26th  November,  1883, 

The  Onb  Hundredth  Anniversary  of  the  Evacuation  of  the  City  of 
New  York  by  the  British  Army, 


BY 

GEORGE  WILLIAM  CURTIS. 


¥ 


NEW    YORK : 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS 

1883. 


Printed  by  order  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 


NOTE. 


u 


The  first  Congress  of  the  United  States  assembled 
in  Federal  Hall,  in  New  York,  on  the  4th  day  of  March, 
1789,  but  there  was  not  a  quorum  present;  and  it  was  not 
until  the  30th  day  of  April  following  that  the  organization 
of  the  Government  established  under  the  Constitution  was 
completed  by  the  inauguration  of  Washington  as  President. 

To  commemorate  this  event,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  on  the  21st  of  February,  1880, 
initiated  a  movement  to  erect  a  statue  of  Washington  on 
the  steps  of  the  Sub-Treasury  building,  which  stands  upon 
the  site  formerly  occupied  by  Federal  Hall,  on  the  corner 
of  Wall  and  Nassau  streets.  The  Honorable  S.  B.  Chit- 
tenden, Representative  in  Congress,  secured  the  necessary- 
legislation  to  authorize  the  erection  of  the  statue  and  its 
subsequent  care  by  the  United  States. 

The  services  of  the  eminent  sculptor,  Mr.  John  Q.  A. 
Ward,  were  engaged ;  the  model  of  a  statue  was  submitted 
by  him  and  approved  by  a  committee  of  the  Chamber; 
a  subscription  list  was  opened,  and  the  necessary  sum  of 
money  was  contributed. 

The  celebration  of  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the 
evacuation  of  New  York  by  the  British  army  on  the  25th  of 
November,  1783,  when  General  Washington  entered  the  city, 


after  its  long  occupation  by  hostile  forces,  was  chosen  as  an 
appropriate  time  for  the  unveiling  of  the  statue,  its  tender 
to  the  custody  of  the  General  Government,  and  its  formal 
acceptance  by  the  President  of  the  United  States. 

On  Monday,  the  26th  of  November,  1883,  notwith- 
standing the  drenching  rain,  a  large  number  of  persons 
assembled  in  Wall  and  Broad  streets,  and  in  the  surrounding 
buildings.  At  the  appointed  hour,  one  o'clock,  p.  m.,  the 
President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  Mr.  George  W.  Lane, 
after  a  few  appropriate  words,  introduced  the  Reverend  R. 
S.  Storrs,  D.  D.,  who  offered  a  prayer : 


Almighty  God,  most  merciful  Father,  who  art  the  Author 
of  our  life  and  the  Giver  of  every  good  and  perfect  gift : 

With  reverence  and  humility  we  bow  before  Thine  infinite 
majesty,  remembering  the  fewness  of  our  days,  the  littleness  of 
our  strength,  and  that  our  wisdom  is  but  folly  before  Thee  : 

With  penitence  we  confess  our  many  offenses,  in  selfishness 
and  in  pride  committed  against  Thee;  and  we  humbly  supplicate 
Thy  forgiveness,  with  the  continual  helps  of  Thy  grace,  which 
alone  may  keep  us  from  sinning. 

Yet  we  come  to  Thee  also  with  thanksgiving  and  praise,  as 
mindful  of  the  manifold  and  inestimable  benefits  which  Thou 
hast  bestowed  upon  us  and  our  households:  and  we  beseech 
Thee  to  accept  the  praises  which  in  grateful  adoration  we  offer 
before  Thee. 

It  hath  pleased  Thee,  who  doest  according  to  Thy  will  in  the 
army  of  Heaven  and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  to 
establish  here  a  people  for  Thy  praise,  and  to  give  it  enlargement 
on  every  side.  The  handful  of  corn  in  the  earth,  on  the  top  of 
the  mountains.  Thou  hast  made  in  the  fruit  thereof  to  shake 
like  Lebanon,  and  them  of  the  city  to  flourish  like  grass  of 
the  earth. 

We  thank  Thee  for  Thy  tender  and  sheltering  favor  shown 
to  our  fathers,  in  the  day  of  their  feebleness,  and  of  their  sore 
struggle. 

We  thank  Thee  especially,  on  this  day,  for  him  whom  Thou 
in  Thy  providence  didst  set  forth  to  be  leader  of  their  armies 
and  wisest  of  their  counselors :  whom  Thou  didst  permit  to  see 


Thy  pleasure  prospering  in  his  hand :  and  to  whom  thou  hast 
given,  in  the  nation  which  he  succored,  and  in  all  the  earth,  a 
long  renown.  We  thank  Thee  for  the  powers,  of  mind  and 
spirit,  and  of  influence  over  men,  which  Thou  didst  graciously 
commit  unto  him  :  that  in  the  day  of  battle  he  was  wise  and 
patient,  steadfast  and  victorious :  that  when  peace  had  come,  the 
people  rested  upon  his  words,  and  were  guided  by  him  into  ways 
of  justice,  friendship,  and  freedom.  And  we  pray  that  Thou  will 
exalt  his  name,  as  a  banner  of  strength  for  ourselves  and  our 
children,  to  the  latest  generation. 

We  ask  for  Thy  favor  on  those  who  are  now,  or  who  shall  be 
hereafter  rulers  in  our  land  :  that  they  may  be  wise,  faithful,  and 
devout,  ruling  in  justice  and  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord ;  following 
him  who  was  in  his  time  to  the  people  which  honored  him  as  the 
light  of  the  morning  when  the  sun  ariseth,  as  the  clear  shining 
after  rain. 

We  ask  for  Thy  blessing  upon  this  city :  that  its  officers  may 
be  peace,  its  exactors  righteousness :  that  its  people  may  dwell 
in  peaceable  habitations  and  in  sure  dwellings,  and  may  never 
forget,  amid  the  prosperity  and  luxury  of  their  life,  the  service 
and  the  sacrifice  of  those  going  before,  or  that  Divine  goodness 
from  which  their  unspeakable  blessings  have  come. 

We  pray  for  the  Nation,  of  which  we  are  part :  that  it  may 
be  ever  exalted  by  righteousness,  blessed  and  glad  because  God 
is  its  Lord.  Thou  hast  increased  it :  be  Thou  glorified  in  it ! 
Thou  hast  brought  it,  in  our  years,  out  of  fierce  peril  and  pain. 
It  called  upon  Thee  in  the  day  of  trouble,  and  Thou  didst 
deliver  it.  Thou  hast  made  wars  to  cease  within  it :  hast  broken 
the  bow,  and  cut  in  sunder  the  spear,  and  burned  the  chariot  in 
the  fire.  Thou  hast  given  it  of  the  chief  things  of  the  ancient 
mountains  and  the  precious  things  of  the  lasting  hills  :  hast 
caused  it  to  suck  of  the  abundance  of  the  seas,  and  hast  filled  it 
with  the  finest  of  the  wheat.  Perfect,  O  God,  what  Thou  hast 
wrought  for  it !  May  it  sing  praises  to  Thee,  with  understanding, 
and  think  of  Thy  loving-kindness  in  the  midst  of  Thy  temples  ! 
And  wilt  Thou,  who  wast  the  God  of  our  fathers,  be  our  God  also, 
and  the  God  of  this  people,  forever  and  ever  ! 

We  ask  for  Thy  blessing  on  the  Nation  from  which  we  have 
long  been  parted,  but  in  whose  keeping  are  the  graves  of  our 
ancestors,  and  whose  lines  have  gone  out  into  all  the  earth. 
May  its  people  serve  Thee  in  faithful  love,  and  rejoice  in  Thy 


8 


truth  which  maketh  free.  May  its  princes  and  nobles  rule  by 
wisdom,  and  equity  be  established  by  its  judges.  May  those  in 
authority  seek  the  things  which  make  for  peace :  and  may  she 
who  sitteth  on  the  throne  of  the  kingdom  have  serenity  in  her 
age  and  continual  affiance  in  Thee  ! 

We  remember  before  Thee  the  Nation  which  gave  us  friend- 
ship and  aid  in  the  day  of  our  weakness ;  with  all  the  peoples 
from  which  have  come  to  us  in  the  following  time  courage  and 
counsel  and  multiplied  strength.  And  we  pray  that  the  blessing 
which  maketh  rich,  and  with  which  Thou  addest  no  sorrow,  may 
abide  upon  them  all,  henceforth  and  ever. 

Further  Thy  kingdom,  we  humbly  beseech  Thee,  in  all  the 
earth ;  and  as  Thou  hast  given  to  the  children  of  men  the  blessed 
hope  of  eternal  life,  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ, 
send  forth  of  Thy  grace  upon  those  in  high  places,  upon  all  who 
minister  in  Thy  Name,  upon  all  kindreds  and  families  of  man- 
kind :  that  Thy  name  may  be  known  on  the  earth,  Thy  saving 
health  among  all  nations. 

Grant  now  Thy  blessing  unto  us  here  assembled;  that 
that  which  we  do  may  be  for  Thy  praise :  that  we  may  with 
joy  accomplish  Thy  will  in  our  life  on  earth :  that  passing  the 
grave  and  gate  of  death  we  may  enter  the  City  whose  inhabitants 
go  no  more  out,  but  in  holy  felicity  see  Thy  face  ! 

We  ask  all  blessings,  and  offer  all  praises,  in  the  Name  of 
Thy  Son,  who  hath  taught  us  to  pray,  saying  :  Our  Father,  who 
art  in  Heaven,  Hallowed  be  Thy  Name :  Thy  Kingdom  come : 
Thy  Will  be  done  in  Earth,  as  it  is  in  Heaven.  Give  us  this 
day  our  Daily  Bread :  and  forgive  us  our  Trespasses,  as  we  for- 
give those  who  trespass  against  us.  And  lead  us  not  into 
Temptation  ;  but  deliver  us  from  evil :  for  thine  is  the  Kingdom, 
and  the  Power,  and  the  Glory,  forever  and  ever.     Amen. 


Mr.  Royal  Phelps,  of  the  Committee  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  which  had  been  charged  with  the  care  of  erect- 
ing the  statue,  reported  the  complete  fulfillment  of  the  duties 
assigned  them,  and  upon  the  conclusion  of  the  report 
Governor  Cleveland,  of  New  York,  unveiled  the  statue. 
The  President  of  the  United  States  was  then  introduced  by 
Mr.  Lane,  and  said  : 


"Mr.  President  and  Fellow-citizens: 

"It  is  fitting  that  other  lips  than  mine  should  give  voice  to 
the  sentiments  of  pride  and  patriotism  which  this  occasion  can- 
not fail  to  inspire  in  every  heart.  To  myself  has  been  assigned 
but  a  slight  and  formal  part  in  the  day's  exercises,  and  I  shall 
not  exceed  its  becoming  limits.  I  have  come  to  this  historic  spot, 
where  the  first  President  of  the  Republic  took  oath  to  preserve, 
protect,  and  defend  the  Constitution,  simply  to  accept  in  behalf 
of  the  Government  this  tribute  to  his  memory.  Long  may  the 
noble  statue  you  have  here  set  up  stand  where  you  have  placed 
it — a  monument  alike  to  your  own  generosity  and  public  spirit, 
and  to  the  wisdom  and  virtue  and  genius  of  the  immortal 
Washington." 

The  address  was  then  delivered  by  Mr.  George  William 
Curtis,  after  which  the  Right  Reverend  Henry  C.  Potter, 
D.  D.,  Assistant  Bishop  of  New  York,  pronounced  the 
benediction. 

New  York,  December  15,  1883. 


ADDRESS 


HE  great  series  of  revolutionary 
centennial  celebrations  ends  fitly 
upon  this  day  and  upon  this  spot. 
The  momentous  events  that 
marked  the  opening,  the  culmination,  and  the 
close  of  the  conflict,  have  been  duly  commemo- 
rated, and  for  eight  years  the  full-stretched 
memory  of  the  country,  a  harp  of  a  thousand 
strings  swept  by  patriotic  emotion,  has  re- 
sounded with  the  heroic  music  of  the  revolu- 
tionary story.  To-day  the  revolutionary  story 
ends.  At  this  hour,  a  hundred  years  ago,  the 
last  British  sentry  was  withdrawn.  The  impe- 
rial standard  of  Great  Britain  fell  at  the  fort 


12 


over  which  it  had  floated  for  a  hundred  and 
twenty  years,  and  in  its  place  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  of  American  Independence  flashed  in 
the  sun.  Fleet  and  army,  royal  flag  and  scarlet 
uniform,  coronet  and  ribbon,  every  sign  and 
symbol  of  foreign  authority,  which  from  Con- 
cord to  Saratoga,  and  from  Saratoga  to  York- 
town,  had  sought  to  subdue  the  colonies, 
vanished  from  these  shores.  Colonial  and  pro- 
vincial America  had  ended ;  national  America 
had  begun ;  and  after  the  lapse  of  a  hundred 
years,  the  cradle  song  of  the  hope  and  promise 
of  our  national  nativity  is  the  triumphant  psean 
of  our  matured  power  and  assured  prosperity ; 
glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  peace  on  earth, 
good  will  to  men  ! 

A  more  sorrowful  departure  history  does  not 
record.  In  that  humiliating  moment  the  fruit 
of  the  victories  of  the  elder  Pitt,  which  had 
girdled  the  globe  with  British  glory  and  had 
supplied  the  pretext  for  taxing  America, 
crumbled  to  ashes.  The  catastrophe  was  not 
that  an  English  army  was  vanquished ;  it  was 
that  England  was  wounded.  It  was  not  a  field 
lost ;  it  was  an  empire  rent  asunder.  It  was  not 
a  blunder  of  military  strategy ;  it  was  a  moral 
miscalculation.     As  her  wisest  statesman  had 


13 

predicted,  England  had  fallen  upon  her  own 
sword ;  and  she  had  drawn  it  against  herself. 
In  striking  at  her  kindred  in  America,  she  struck 
at  the  political  traditions,  the  immemorial  rights, 
the  jealous  love  of  liberty,  which  are  the  heredi- 
tary pride  of  the  English  name ;  and  the  rustic 
continentals  who  had  defended  those  rights  from 
Bunker  Hill  to  Newburgh,  and  who  returned 
hither  on  this  day  a  hundred  years  ago,  marched 
through  these  streets  as  they  had  marched 
to  the  battlefields  of  the  revolution,  keeping 
step  to  the  steady  drum-beat  of  Cromwell's 
Ironsides  at  Worcester  and  Dunbar,  and  win- 
ning at  last  as  great  a  victory  for  the  English- 
speaking  race.  But  none  the  less  the  political 
separation  of  the  two  countries  was  complete. 
England  had  declined  the  greatest  opportunity 
that  was  ever  offered  to  a  great  nation,  and 
America,  panoplied  in  the  mighty  memories  of 
her  birthright,  with  the  sturdy  self-reliance  of 
indomitable  conviction  and  of  conscious  power, 
turned  to  carry  forward  as  a  new  nation,  under 
other  conditions  and  through  other  institu- 
tions, the  cardinal  principles  of  constitutional 
liberty. 

This  day,  therefore,  commemorates  the  end 
of  the  old  order,  and  this  spot  the  beginning  of 


14 

the  new.  With  the  evacuation  of  New  York 
monarchy  ended ;  with  the  inauguration  of 
Washington  the  national  republic  began.  The 
result,  indeed,  had  been  foretold  by  the  course 
of  events  through  all  the  colonial  period,  which 
culminated  in  the  total  overthrow  of  British 
power.  The  early  New  England  confederations 
— the  colonial  leagues  against  Indian  hostility 
— William  Penn's  suggestion  of  a  provincial 
Congress — the  military  association  for  a  com- 
mon interest  and  with  a  common  impulse, 
in  the  old  French  and  English  wars — 
Franklin's  scheme  of  union  at  Albany — 
the  first  doubt  and  distrust  of  British  au- 
thority— the  morning  gun  of  revolution  in 
Jonathan  Mayhew's  preaching — the  thunder- 
burst  of  James  Otis's  plea  against  the  writs  of 
assistance — the  keen  and  fatal  logic  of  John 
Morin  Scott  in  New  York,  with  its  plain  fore- 
cast of  separation — the  fiery  warning  of  Pat- 
rick Henry  to  the  King — the  massacre  in  State 
street — the  Boston  port-bill — the  response  of 
New  York  and  Virginia — the  Stamp  Act  Con- 
gress— and  at  last,  following  the  shots  on  Lex- 
ington Green  and  the  volley  at  Concord  Bridge, 
the  varying  fortune  and  final  triumph  of  the 
contest  —  all  these,  our  renowned  and  glorious 


15 

traditions,  immortal  as  the  tale  of  Thermopylae 
and  Plataea,  of  Sempach  and  Runnymede,  re- 
vealed the  common  American  heart  and  con- 
science, the  essential  and  instinctive  unity  of 
the  colonies  ;  and,  surely  and  resistlessly  as  the 
revolution  of  the  globe  through  the  darkness 
of  the  night  turns  the  continent  to  the  morning, 
the  progressive  development  of  the  colonies 
brought  the  great  consummation  of  American 
national  union,  which  consecrates  this  spot. 

But  it  was  accomplished  only  after  long  and 
anxious  and  arduous  controversy,  with  doubt 
and  apprehension,  and  bitter  hostility.  The  gen- 
eral joy  that  followed  the  evacuation  of  New 
York,  the  satisfaction  with  acknowledged  inde- 
pendence, the  glowing  anticipation,  the  bound- 
less hope,  were  succeeded  by  the  reaction  that 
always  follows  prolonged  exaltation  of  public 
feeling  and  devoted  and  self-sacrificing  public 
exertion.  The  young  giant,  indeed,  had  con- 
quered, but  his  victory  seemed  to  have  cost  him 
his  life.  Foreign  authority  had  disappeared,  but 
the  couniry  lay  prostrate. 

In  the  midst  of  our  civil  war,  by  an  exquisite 
stroke  of  diplomacy,  the  Secretary  of  State 
invited  the  ministers  of  foreign  powers  to  a 
pleasure    excursion    through    New    York,    that 


i6 

they  might  witness  the  unabated  prosperity  of 
a  single  State  and  report  to  Europe  that,  while 
the  United  States  maintained  a  million  of  men 
in  the  field  and  upon  the  sea,  there  was  no 
apparent  diminution  of  population,  no  interrup- 
tion of  industrial  activities  and  ordinary  pur- 
suits, and  no  visible  drain  upon  seemingly 
exhaustless  resources.  But  when  the  revolu- 
tion ended,  commerce  had  perished,  agriculture 
languished,  and  manufactures  were  stifled  by 
foreign  competition.  The  public  debt  was 
enormous,  and  private  debt  was  universal.  We 
have  seen  the  stupendous  burden  of  our  civil 
war  borne  with  cheerfulness,  and  regularly  and 
continuously  reduced  with  ease.  But  in  the 
year  after  the  evacuation  of  New  York,  bills 
of  the  Confederation  for  six  hundred  thousand 
dollars  were  protested  in  Holland,  and  the 
whole  requirement  of  the  Treasury  for  the  year, 
which  was  four  millions  of  dollars,  was  univer- 
sally felt  to  be  a  sum  too  large  to  demand,  and 
which  could  not  be  collected.  Taxation  was 
resisted.  State  authority  was  defied,  .and  the 
feeble  and  futile  government  of  the  Confedera- 
tion, a  mummy  clad  in  robes  of  state,  without 
power  and  without  consideration,  was  scorned 
abroad  and  contemned  at  home. 


17 

The  times  that  tried  men's  souls  in  this  coun- 
try were  rather  in  1786  than  in  1776,  for  the 
colonial  ability  to  win  independence  involved 
neither  the  righteousness  of  the  cause  nor  the 
character  of  the  people.  The  revolution  had 
proved  their  valor,  and  had  been  successfully 
achieved.  But  the  new  situation  tested  their 
wisdom ;  and  without  wisdom  the  revolution 
had  been  in  vain.  By  the  common  exertion, 
sacrifice,  and  suffering,  independence  had  been 
secured,  the  enemy  had  been  expelled,  and  the 
younger  England  of  the  West  had  humbled  the 
crowned  and  unnatural  mother  England  upon 
the  sea-girt  throne.  In  this  crucial  moment 
neglect  or  ignorance  of  the  obvious  and  indis- 
pensable means  of  securing  the  common  safety, 
strength,  and  welfare,  the  apparent  revelation 
of  American  incapacity  to  build  a  national 
American  commonwealth  might  justly  fill  every 
generous  and  patriotic  heart  with  dismay. 

Yet  if  any  American  despaired  during  the 
gloomy  years  from  1783  to  1787,  and  doubted 
whether  the  men  were  equal  to  the  task,  so 
had  John  Adams  doubted  and  despaired  on  the 
very  eve  of  the  assembly  of  the  Continental 
Congress.  "We  have  not  men  fit  for  the 
times,"  he  exclaimed;  "we  are  deficient  in 
3 


i8 

genius,  in  education,  in  travel,  in  fortune,  in 
everything."  But  scarcely  had  he  spoken  when 
he  hastened  to  take  his  part  in  that  immortal 
assembly,  and-  to  do  the  very  thing  that  he 
feared  no  man  was  strong  enough  to  do.  Well 
did  Jefferson  call  him  the  Colossus,  for  upon 
his  mighty  and  indomitable  Mall  he  lifted  the 
country  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
Why  then  doubt,  since  independence  had  been 
achieved,  that  national  union  was  possible  ?  The 
leaders  of  the  revolution,  the  chiefs  of  the 
Continental  Congress,  still  lived.  Age  had  not 
dimmed  their  eyes,  nor  chilled  their  hearts,  nor 
withered  their  faculties.  The  work  they  had 
begun,  surely  they  were  ready  to  complete,  and 
the  men  who  had  made  the  English  Colonies 
American  States  were  wise  enough  and  strong 
enough  to  bind  the  American  States  into  a 
nation. 

Nay,  even  doubt  was  treachery.  For  still  he 
lived — in  the  prime  of  glorious  manhood  he  still 
lived — whose  faith,  and  constancy,  and  courage, 
when  patriotism  despaired  and  hope  expired, 
had  moved  before  his  struggling  country  a  pillar 
of  cloud  by  day,  of  fire  by  night.  To  think  of  the 
revolution  is  to  see  him.  The  whole  scene  is 
radiant  with  his  presence  and  his  power.     He 


19 

was,  indeed,  but  one  patriot  among  patriots,  and 
an  ardent  and  general  patriotism  it  was  that 
marshaled  Minute  Men  and  enrolled  Sons  of 
Liberty.  It  was  a  sublime  popular  daring  that 
defied  the  British  empire  and  made  good  its 
defiance.  Doubtless  the  American  revolution 
was  the  work  of  the  people,  but  it  seems  the 
work  of  a  man.  How  can  we  conceive  its  heroic 
prosecution,  its  triumphant  issue,  without  its 
leader  ?  Had  he  fallen  at  Trenton ;  had  he 
been  captured  by  Clinton ;  had  intrigues  of 
selfish  ambition  prevailed  against  him  ;  had  he 
not  nerved — he  alone — the  hesitating  army  at 
Newburgh,  who  dare  doubt  that  the  vision  of 
the  "one  far  off,  divine  event"  that  drew  the 
country  through  the  war,  would  still  have  been 
fulfilled  ?  But  what  American  does  not  know, 
and  proudly  own,  that  the  perpetual  and  inspir- 
ing assurance  of  that  event,  the  cheer  of  the 
weary  march,  the  joy  of  the  victory,  the  confi- 
dence of  Congress,  the  pride  and  hope  of  Amer- 
ica, was  the  character  of  Washington  ? 

No  voice  for  a  powerful  Union  was  earlier  or 
stronger  or  more  constant  than  his.  The  fervor 
of  his  conviction  kindled  the  faith  of  the  coun- 
try. Samuel  Adams  might  hesitate,  and  Patrick 
Henry  doubt,  but  Washington  was  sure.   Union 


20 


alone  had  won  independence,  union  alone  could 
secure  it.  Without  union  there  was  no  com- 
mon revenue,  no  common  regulation  of  com- 
merce, no  settlement  of  common  territory,  no 
common  bond  between  adjacent  States.  Instead 
of  these,  there  were  discord,  anarchy,  and  sub- 
jugation. 

Indeed,  they  were  already  at  hand.  While 
England  refused  to  relinquish  the  western  forts, 
and  contemptuously  demanded  of  John  Adams 
some  security  that  the  separate  States  would 
not  nullify  the  decrees  of  the  Confederation,  while 
Europe  awaited  disdainfully  the  dissolution 
of  a  loose  and  jarring  league,  the  States 
themselves,  pinched  with  poverty,  jealous  of 
Congress,  withheld  their  contributions  to  the 
common  treasury,  and  encountered  from  their 
own  citizens  armed  defiance  of  their  own  au- 
thority. The  situation  was  intolerable.  Law- 
lessness and  license,  masquerading  as  liberty 
and  independence,  threatened  the  rural  repub- 
licans as  the  leering  satyrs  in  the  fable  deluded 
the  simple  shepherds  of  the  plain.  But  the  high 
destiny  of  the  English-speaking  race  was  not 
to  be  thwarted.  The  ancient  traditions  of  that 
people,  whose  political  genius  is  strong  common 
sense,  are  not  of  liberty  only,  but  of  constitu- 


^ 


21 

tional  liberty,  and  of  a  sagacity  and  skill  which 
secure  and  perpetuate  that  liberty  in  adequate 
and  flexible  institutions.  Devotion  to  liberty 
and  loyalty  to  law,  proceeding  with  equal  step, 
have  together  led  the  race  of  which  Washington 
is  the  consummate  flower  from  the  gloom  of 
the  ancient  German  forest  to  the  imperial 
splendor  of  England  and  the  republican  glory 
of  the  United  States.  But  the  children  of 
liberty  are  wise  in  their  generation.  There 
were  American  States  after  the  revolution,  and 
there  were  constitutions  of  States.  But  there 
was  no  common  constitution,  no  common  guar- 
antee both  of  the  rights  of  States  and  the  liber- 
ties of  the  citizens ;  and,  in  the  midst  of  States 
and  constitutions.  State  authority,  and  individ- 
ual liberty,  and  the  general  welfare  itself,  were 
perishing. 

Then,  as  in  the  passionate  excitement  but 
uncertain  movement  of  the  early  revolution,  a 
paper  passed  mysteriously  from  patriotic  hand 
to  hand,  firing  every  patriotic  heart  with  the 
magic  motto,  '' Jom  or  die";  so,  in  the  air 
now  electric  with  national  feeling,  "  Join  or 
die  "  became  the  burden  of  the  mighty  chorus 
that  rolled  from  out  the  heart  of  the  people. 
It  was  resistless,  like  the  demand  for  Indepen- 


22 

dence  ten  years  before.  The  convention  as- 
sembled. Washington,  the  good  genius  of 
union,  presided.  Wise  and  heroic  patriots 
framed  the  Constitution  and  submitted  it  to  the 
people.  For  ten  months  the  land  shook  with 
the  great  debate  upon  its  ratification,  and  it 
was  the  conclusive  argument  for  the  Constitu- 
tion that  Washington  would  be  the  first  Presi- 
dent. In  this  very  street  Alexander  Hamilton 
met  John  Lamb,  the  ardent  leader  of  the  Sons 
of  Liberty,  who  distrusted  the  new  scheme  of 
government,  and  argued  with  him  that  fear  was 
folly,  since  Washington  would  be  the  President. 
"  Good,"  replied  Lamb,  "  for  to  no  other  mortal 
would  I  entrust  authority  so  enormous."  At 
length  the  decision  of  the  people  was  recorded. 
Eleven  of  the  thirteen  States  had  solemnly 
adopted  the  Constitution,  and  in  the  jubilee  of 
joy  that  followed,  as  of  a  people  breaking  a 
deadly  spell,  opposition  was  silenced,  and  the 
man  who,  like  Moses,  had  led  his  country 
through  the  Red  Sea  of  armed  strife,  was  sum- 
moned by  the  instinctive  love  and  perfect  con- 
fidence of  the  whole  people  to  perform  the 
miracle  for  which  they  waited,  and,  like  .  a 
greater  than  Moses,  to  stretch  forth  his  hand 
and  raise  the  dead  frame  of  national  union  to  life. 


23 

With  that  manly  humility  and  modest  simplic- 
ity which  always  invested  his  greatness,  like 
the  rosy  hue  that  suffuses  the  awful  summit  of 
Mont  Blanc,  Washington  writes  in  his  diary, 
on  the  i6th  of  April,  1789:  "  Abp-ut  ten  o'clock 
I  bade  adieu  to  Mount  Vernon,  to  private  life, 
and  to  domestic  felicity,  and,  with  a  mind  op- 
pressed with  more  anxious  and  painful  sensa- 
tions than  I  have  words  to  express,  set  out  for 
New  York,  with  the  best  disposition  to  render 
service  to  my  country  in  obedience  to  its  call, 
but  with  less  hope  of  answering  its  expectation." 
From  State  to  State,  from  town  to  town,  along 
that  triumphal  way  from  Mount  Vernon,  the 
air  murmured  with  benedictions  as  he  passed. 
Under  laureled  arches  and  walking  upon  flowers, 
amid  the  music  of  bells,  the  thunder  of  cannon, 
the  acclamations  of  the  people,  the  singing  of 
hymns,  and  the  eloquence  of  votive  addresses, 
Washington  came  at  last  to  New  York,  and 
landed  at  the  foot  of  this  street,  amid  such  joy- 
ous exultation  as  New  York  had  never  known. 
After  a  week  had  passed,  the  great  object  of  his 
coming  was  to  be  accomplished,  and  on  the  30th 
of  April,  1789,  the  procession  attending  the 
President  moved  from  his  house  on  Franklin 
Square,  through    Pearl   street   to    Broad,    and 


24 

through  Broad  street  to  the  spot  upon  which 
we  are  now  assembled. 

Among  the  most  imposing  events  in  history 
must  always  be  accounted  the  simple  ceremony 
which  was  transacted  here.  The  human  mind 
craves  lofty  figures  for  a  memorable  scene,  and 
loves  to  decorate  with  fitting  circumstance  the 
fulfillment  of  great  affairs.  For  this  event  all 
such  conditions  were  satisfied.  The  scene  was 
set  with  every  ample  preparation  of  historic 
significance  and  patriotic  association,  with  the 
most  eminent  actors,  with  the  most  auspicious 
anticipation.  For  the  occasion  itself  America 
offered  no  place  more  becoming,  for  no  spot  is 
more  conspicuously,  more  honorably,  or  more 
closely  identified  than  this  with  the  history  of 
American  liberty.  The  scene  around  us  is  mar- 
velously  changed,  indeed,  from  its  aspect  in  the 
colonial,  the  provincial,  the  revolutionary  city. 
How  transformed  this  street  from  the  resort  of 
fashion,  the  seat  of  the  State  Government,  the 
modest  residence  of  merchants,  diplomatists, 
and  statesmen,  which  was  the  Wall  street  of  a 
century  ago !  Then  the  social  and  political 
heart  of  a  small  and  struggling  community,  it 
is  now  the  financial  nerve-centre  of  a  continent. 
But  if  the  vast  competitions  and  contentions  of 


25 

capital  and  enterprise  which  involve  the  pros- 
perity of  states  and  nations  have  overlaid  the 
plain  scene  of  political  strife  with  a  field  of  cloth 
of  gold,  yet  still  the  hallowed  soil  is  here.  The 
swarming  street  is  but  a  picture  painted  over. 
Beneath  the  ever  shifting  characters  of  specu- 
lation aYid  of  eager  trade,  incessantly  traced 
upon  this  pavement  of  the  modern  city,  lies  the 
undimmed  and  indelible  patriotic  record  of  old 
New  York. 

The  spot  upon  which  we  stand  was  the  site 
of  the  second  City  Hall,  which,  for  more  than 
a  hundred  years,  was  the  central  seat  of  the 
active  political  life  of  the  State  and  city.  Faneuil 
Hall,  in  Boston,  is  justly  called  the  cradle  of  the 
revolution,  for  it  rocked  the  infant  cry  against 
ministerial  injustice  into  the  overwhelming 
chorus  of  freedom  and  independence.  Carpen- 
ter's Hall,  in  Philadelphia,  sheltered  the  Con- 
tinental Congress.  In  Philadelphia  also,  in  the 
State  House,  the  great  debate  upon  indepen- 
dence proceeded,  and  there  the  great  Declara- 
tion was  signed.  The  titles  of  such  monuments 
to  renown  and  endless  national  gratitude  no 
envy  assails,  no  rivalry  disputes.  But  the  city 
of  Hamilton,  of  Jay,  of  Livingston,  of  John 
Lamb,  and  Isaac  Sears,  and  Gouverneur  Morris, 
4 


26 

as  it  moved  with  equal  step  by  its  sister  cities 
in  the  field,  cherishes  the  historic  sites  of  its 
own  patriotic  activity  with  the  same  reverence 
that  it  salutes  those  of  its  peers. 

Here,  in  1735,  the  trial  of  John  Zenger 
established  the  freedom  of  the  American  press, 
and  declared  the  cardinal  principle  of  its  liberty, 
that  the  publication  of  the  truth  is  not  a  libel. 
From  the  Assembly  of  New  York,  sitting  in 
this  place  in  1 764,  proceeded  the  protest  against 
the  Stamp  Act,  and  here  the  Committees  of  Cor- 
respondence were  appointed  which  combined 
and  organized  colonial  action.  In  this  ancient 
hall  assembled  the  Stamp  Act  Congress,  the 
first  Congress  of  the  United  Colonies,  whose 
clear  and  uncompromising  voice  announced 
the  American  purpose  and  foretold  Amer- 
ican independence.  It  was  a  New  York 
merchant.  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce, who  wrote  the  address  of  the  Con- 
gress to  the  House  of  Commons.  They 
were  New  York  merchants  who,  as  the  Con- 
gress adjourned,  attested  their  high  design  by 
forming  a  league  and  covenant  of  non-importa- 
tion. It  was  to  a  New  York  merchant,  as 
Mayor  of  the  city,  that  the  British  Governor  of 
the  province  and  the  commander  of  the  royal 


27 

forces  surrendered  the  hated  stamps,  and  to  this 
spot  they  were  brought  in  solemn  procession, 
amid  the  shouts  of  rejoicing  citizens. 

From  the  balcony  of  the  hall  that  stood  here 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  first  read 
to  the  citizens  of  New  York,  and,  although  the 
enemy's  fleet  had  entered  the  harbor,  the  people 
as  they  listened  tore  down  the  royal  arms  from 
the  walls  of  the  hall  and  burned  them  in  the 
street,  as  their  fiery  patriotism  was  about  to 
consume  the  royal  power  in  the  province.  Here 
sat  the  Continental  Congress  in  its  closing  days, 
here  John  Adams  was  commissioned  as  the 
first  American  Minister  to  Great  Britain,  and 
here  the  Congress  received  Sir  John  Temple, 
the  first  British  Consul-General  to  the  United 
States.  Here  Jefferson  was  selected  by  Con- 
gress as  Minister  to  France,  and  here  Secretary 
Jay,  with  the  same  equable  mind  and  clear  com- 
prehension and  unbending  integrity  that  after- 
ward illustrated  the  first  exercise  of  the  judi- 
cial power  of  the  Union,  directed  the  foreign 
affairs  of  the  Confederation.  Here,  also, 
when  the  Confederation  disappeared,  the  first 
Congress  of  the  Union  assembled.  Indeed, 
we  are  enveloped  by  inspiring  memories  and 
kindling   local    associations.      Yonder,    almost 


28 

within  sound  of  my  voice,  still  stands  the 
ancient  and  famous  inn  where  the  Commander- 
in-Chief  tenderly  parted  with  his  officers,  and 
there,  over  the  way,  where  once  a  modest  man- 
sion stood,  the  Federalist  was  chiefly  written. 
The  very  air  about  this  hallowed  spot  is  the  air 
of  American  patriotism.  To  breathe  it,  charged 
with  such  memories,  is  to  be  inspired  with  the 
loftiest  human  purpose,  to  be  strengthened  for 
the  noblest  endeavor.  By  the  most  impressive 
associations,  by  the  most  dignified  and  impor- 
tant historic  events,  was  this  place  dedicated  to 
the  illustrious  transaction  which  we  commemo- 
rate to-day. 

But  the  majesty  of  the  event  was  not  its 
circumstance  ;  it  was  its  import.  A  people  whose 
courage  and  endurance  in  the  field,  and  whose 
capacity  of  local  self-government,  had  been 
amply  tested,  was  here  to  take  its  place  as  a 
united  republic  beside  the  ancient  and  power- 
ful monarchies  of  Christendom.  It  was  to  do 
this  amid  the  scornful  distrust  of  the  world,  and 
involved  in  domestic  jealousies  and  vast  and 
obscure  internal  perils.  The  hope  of  success 
lay  apparently  in  one  man,  revered  and  beloved 
as  no  other  man  had  ever  been,  and  upon  the 
successful  issue  of  the  trust  to  which  he  was 


29 

here  solemnly  devoted.  What  scene  in  human 
history  transcends  the  grandeur  and  the  signifi- 
cance of  that  consecration  ?  Gazing  upon  this 
sculptured  form,  and  remembering  that  this 
was  the  very  hour  and  this  the  place  of  the 
sublime  event;  that  here,  under  the  benignant 
arch  of  heaven,  Washington  appeared  to  take 
the  oath  of  his  great  office, — the  air  is  hushed, 
even  the  joyous  tumult  of  this  glad  day  is 
stilled,  the  familiar  scene  fades  from  before 
our  eyes,  and  our  awed  hearts  whisper  within 
us :  "  Put  off  thy  shoes  from  off  thy  feet, 
for  the  place  whereon  thou  standest  is  holy 
ground." 

The  streets,  the  windows,  the  roofs,  were 
thronged  with  people,  and,  drowning  my  feeble 
voice,  surely  you  can  hear  the  vast  and  pro- 
longed shout  that  saluted  the  hero.  Touched 
to  the  heart  by  the  affectionate  greeting,  he 
advanced  to  the  railing,  and,  placing  his  hand 
upon  his  breast,  he  bowed  low,  and  then  for  a 
moment,  overwhelmed  by  emotion,  he  stepped 
back  and  seated  himself  amid  a  sudden  and 
solemn  silence.  Then  he  arose,  and  coming 
forward,  his  majestic  and  commanding  frame 
stood  upon  the  identical  stone  upon  which  I 
stand  at   this   moment,   and  which,  fixed   fast 


30 

here  beneath  the  statue,  will  remain,  in  the 
eyes  of  all  men,  an  imperishable  memorial 
of  the  scene.  Near  Washington  were  John 
Adams,  Alexander  Hamilton,  Roger  Sherman, 
Chancellor  Livingston,  General  Knox,  General 
*  Sinclair,  Baron  Steuben,  and  other  famous  men. 
The  Chancellor,  in  his  robes,  solemnly  recited  the 
words  of  the  oath.  The  Secretary  of  the  Senate 
raised  the  Bible.  Washington  bent  low,  and 
audibly  saying,  "  I  swear,  so  help  me  God  ! " 
reverently  kissed  the  book.  "  It  is  done,"  cried 
the  Chancellor,  "  Long  live  George  Washing- 
ton, President  of  the  United  States  !  "  "  Long 
live  George  Washington  !  "  shouted  the  people 
in  one  resounding  cry  of  exultation.  "  Long 
live  George  Washington,"  rang  all  the  bells  and 
roared  all  the  cannon  of  a  continent.  "  Long 
live  George  Washington,"  echoed  every  heart 
and  voice  in  the  world  that  pleaded  and  beat 
for  liberty.  And  now,  after  a  hundred  years 
have  passed,  more  reverently,  more  universally, 
more  gratefully,  than  ever,  in  all  civilized  lands 
in  which  the  greatness  of  his  example  has 
exalted  the  estimate  of  human  character  and 
the  standard  of  human  conduct,  every  people 
fervently  prolongs  the  prayer,  *'  Long  live 
George  Washington  ! " 


31 

The  task  upon  which  he  entered  here  was 
infinitely  greater  than  that  which  he  undertook 
when,  fourteen  years  before,  he  drew  his  sword 
under  the  elm  at  Cambridge  as  Commander- 
in-Chief  of  the  Continental  army.  To  lead  a 
people  in  revolution  wisely  and  successfully, 
without  ambition  and  without  a  crime,  demands, 
indeed,  lofty  genius  and  unbending  virtue.  But 
to  build  their  State, —  amid  the  angry  conflict 
of  passion  and  prejudice  and  unreasonable 
apprehension,  the  incredulity  of  many,  and  the 
grave  doubt  of  all,  to  organize  for  them  and 
peacefully  to  inaugurate  a  complete  and  satisfac- 
tory government, — this  is  the  greatest  service 
that  a  man  can  render  to  mankind.  But  this, 
also,  is  the  glory  of  Washington.  The  power  of 
his  personal  character,  his  penetrating  foresight, 
and  the  wisdom  of  his  judgment,  in  composing 
the  myriad  elements  that  threatened  to  over- 
whelm the  mighty  undertaking,  are  all  unpar- 
alleled. "  Nothing  but  harmony,  honesty,  in- 
dustry, and  frugality,"  he  said  to  Lafayette, 
"  are  necessary  to  make  us  a  great  and  happy 
people."  But  he  was  not  a  man  of  phrases, 
nor  did  he  suppose  that  government  could  be 
established  or  maintained  by  lofty  professions 
of  virtue.     No  man's  perception  of  the  indis- 


32 

pensability  of  great  principles  to  the  successful 
conduct  of  great  affairs  was  ever  more  un- 
clouded than  his,  but  no  man  had  ever  learned 
by  a  more  prolonged  or  arduous  experience 
that  infinite  patience,  sagacity,  forbearance,  and 
wise  concession  must  attend  inflexible  principle, 
if  great  affairs  are  to  be  greatly  administered. 
His  countrymen  are  charged  with  fond  idolatry 
of  his  memory,  and  his  greatness  is  pleasantly 
depreciated  as  a  mythologic  exaggeration.  But 
no  church  ever  canonized  a  saint  more  worthily 
than  he  is  canonized  by  the  national  affection, 
and  to  no  ancient  hero,  benefactor,  or  lawgiver, 
were  divine  honors  ever  so  justly  decreed  as  to 
Washington  the  homage  of  the  world. 

With  the  sure  sagacity  of  a  leader  of  men, 
he  selected  at  once,  for  the  highest  and  most 
responsible  stations,  the  three  chief  Americans 
who  represented  the  three  forces  in  the  nation 
which  alone  could  command  success  in  the 
institution  of  the  government.  Hamilton  was 
the  head,  Jefferson  was  the  heart,  and  John  Jay 
was  the  conscience.  Washington's  just  and 
serene  ascendency  was  the  lambent  flame  in 
which  these  beneficent  powers  were  fused  ;  and 
nothing  less  than  that  ascendency  could  have 
ridden  the  whirlwind  and  directed  the  storm  that 


33 

burst  around  him.  Party  spirit  blazed  into  fury  ; 
John  Jay  was  hung  in  effigy ;  Hamilton  was 
stoned ;  insurrection  raised  its  head  in  the 
West;  Washington  himself  was  denounced; 
and  suddenly  the  French  Revolution,  the  ghastly 
spectre  rising  from  delirium  and  despair,  the 
avenging  fury  of  intolerable  oppression,  at  once 
hopeful  and  heart-rending,  seized  modern  civil- 
ization, shook  Europe  to  the  centre,  divided  the 
sympathy  of  America,  and,  as  the  child  of 
liberty,  appealed  to  Washington.  But  the  great 
soul,  amidst  battle,  and  defeat,  and  long  retreat, 
and  the  sinking  heart  of  a  people,  undismayed, 
was  not  appalled  by  the  convulsion  of  the 
world.  Amidst  the  uproar  of  Christendom  he 
knew  liberty  too  well  to  be  deluded  by  its 
mad  pretence.  Without  a  beacon,  without  a 
chart,  but  with  unwavering  eye  and  steady 
hand,  he  guided  his  country  safe  through  dark- 
ness and  through  storm.  In  the  angry  shock 
of  domestic  parties,  "  there  is  but  one  character 
which  keeps  them  in  awe,"  wrote  Edmund 
Randolph.  "  The  foundations  of  the  moral 
world,"  said  a  wise  teacher  in  Cambridge 
University,  bidding  young  Englishmen  mark 
the  matchless  man, — "  the  foundations  of  the 
moral  world  were  shaken,  but  not  the  under- 
5 


34 

standing  of  Washington."  He  held  his  stead- 
fast way,  Hke  the  sun  across  the  firmament, 
giving  Hfe,  and  health,  and  strength,  to  the 
new  nation  ;  and  upon  a  searching  survey  of 
his  administration,  which  established  the  fun- 
damental principles  of  American  policy  in  every 
department  of  the  Government,  there  is  no 
great  act  which  his  country  would  annul,  no 
word  spoken,  no  line  written,  no  deed  done 
by  him,  which  justice  would  reverse  or  wisdom 
deplore. 

Fellow-citizens,  the  solemn  dedication  of 
Washington  to  this  august  and  triumphant 
task  is  the  event  which  this  statue  will  com- 
memorate to  unborn  generations.  Elsewhere, 
in  bronze  and  marble,  and  upon  glowing  can- 
vas, genius  has  delighted  to  invest  with  the 
immortality  of  art  the  best-beloved  and  most 
familiar  of  American  figures.  The  surveyor 
of  the  Virginia  wilderness,  the  leader  of  the 
revolution,  the  president,  the  man,  are  known 
of  all  men ;  they  are  everywhere  beheld  and 
revered.  But  here,  at  last,  upon  the  scene  of 
the  crowning  event  of  his  life,  and  of  his 
country's  life, — here,  in  the  throbbing  heart  of 
the  great  city,  where  it  will  be  daily  seen  by 
countless  thousands ;   here  in  the  presence  of 


35 

the  President  of  the  United  States,  of  the 
Governor  of  New  York,  of  the  official  authori- 
ties of  other  States,  of  the  organized  body  of 
New  York  merchants  who,  as  in  other  years 
they  have  led  the  city  in  so  many  patriotic 
deeds  upon  this  spot,  lead  now  in  this  com- 
memoration of  the  greatest ;  and  finally,  of  this 
vast  and  approving  concourse  of  American 
citizens,  we  raise  this  calm  and  admonishing 
form.  Its  majestic  repose  shall  charm  and 
subdue  the  multitudinous  life  that  heaves  and 
murmurs  around  it,  and  as  the  moon  draws  the 
swaying  tides  of  ocean,  its  lofty  serenity  shall 
lift  the  hurrying  throng  to  unselfish  thoughts, 
to  generous  patriotism,  to  a  nobler  life.  Here 
descended  upon  our  fathers  the  benediction  of 
the  personal  presence  of  Washington.  Here 
may  the  moral  grandeur  of  his  character  and 
his  life  inspire  our  children's  children  forever! 


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